Cavitation is difficult to define precisely. A brief description of the main features and the fundamental processes can be best illustrated by the following comments. If a mass of liquid is heated isobarically, or if its pressure is reduced isothermally by static or dynamic means, a state is ultimately reached at which vapor or gas- and vapor-filled bubbles or cavities become physically apparent and begin to grow. This bubble growth, if by diffusion of dissolved gas into the cavity, may be at a normal rate. The bubble growth will be explosive, however, if it is primarily a result of vaporization into the cavity. This latter condition is commonly called boiling if it is caused by a temperature rise and cavitation if it is caused by an isothermal dynamic-pressure reduction (Knapp, Hammitt, and Daily, 1970).
Cavitation is, then, a liquid phenomenon and does not occur in any normal circumstances in either a solid or a gas. Cavitation is the direct result of pressure reductions in a liquid,...
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References
Knapp, R. T.; Hammitt, F. G., and Daily, J. W., 1970. Cavitation. New York: McGraw-Hill, 578p.
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© 1982 Hutchinson Ross Publishing Company
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Herbich, J.B., Shilling, R.B. (1982). Cavitation . In: Beaches and Coastal Geology. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-30843-1_90
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-30843-1_90
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